Overview of CANON LENS EF 85mm 1: 1.8 ULTRASONIC

According provided by lens CANON LENS EF 85mm 1: 1.8 ULTRASONIC (USM) Many thanks to Igor.

Canon LENS EF 85mm 1: 1.8 ULTRASONIC USM

Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM Is a stunning lens, inexpensive, and produces amazing images. The Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM is a short telephoto, classic portrait, fast prime lens suitable for all Canon EOS digital SLR cameras. This is a lens from a full-frame camera, as indicated by the designation EF in the name of the lens. The optical scheme of the lens includes 9 elements in 7 groups and not a single specific element.

Canon LENS EF 85mm 1: 1.8 ULTRASONIC USM

On Canon APS-C cameras k=1.6x EGF will match 136mm, and on Canon APS-H k=1.3 EGF will 110.5mm. The Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM remains a wonderful portrait lens both in crop and full frame, you can safely buy it without worrying about switching from crop to full frame.

Canon LENS EF 85mm 1: 1.8 ULTRASONIC USM

Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM has a built-in ultrasonic focusing motor - UltraSabout nothing Motor. Focus is very fast.... The lens focuses very quickly from infinity to MDF and back. Focusing accuracy is highly dependent on the camera and shooting conditions. When working with the lens, I found no focusing flaws with the Canon EF 85mm 1: 1.8 USM. The lens has fully internal focusing - when you rotate the focusing ring, neither the front nor the rear lens moves. The diameter of the front filter is 58mm.

Canon LENS EF 85mm 1: 1.8 ULTRASONIC USM

The lens has a focus mode switch AF / MF. In manual focus mode, the focus ring in the active position rotates only 90 degrees. When reaching the limit position, the focus ring just starts to slide. The minimum focusing distance is 85 смwhich is quite normal. The lens has a focus distance scale in meters and feet, as well as a depth of field scale, but only for F / 22. There is also a red dot for adjusting focus when shooting in the infrared spectrum. The focus ring rotates smoothly, the focus ring itself is rubberized and conveniently located on the lens.

Canon LENS EF 85mm 1: 1.8 ULTRASONIC USM

The lens aperture changes from F / 1.8 to F / 22. Aperture F / 1.8 is considered quite sufficient for poor lighting conditions, but due to the large focal length and the lack of a stabilizer in the lens, it is very desirable when taking pictures with your hands excerpt was not higher than 1 \ 80s. More details in the section on how take pictures with hand. Difference between aperture The f / 1.8 and f / 1.2 of the more expensive Canon EF 85mm f / 1.2L II USM are as much as 2.25x, which is already quite noticeable for a number of tasks.

Canon LENS EF 85mm 1: 1.8 ULTRASONIC USM

The number of diaphragm blades is 8 pieces, this allows you to form fairly smooth discs in the out-of-focus area and create a pleasant bokeh. The bokeh deserves special attention, as it is very pleasant and smooth.

On the lens you can find the inscription Canon Lens Made in Japan, Canon Lens EF 85mm 1: 1.8 UltraSabout nothing, which adds confidence in the good build quality.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm 1: 1.8G IF SWM and Canon LENS EF 85mm 1: 1.8 ULTRASONIC USM

Image quality using Canon EF 85mm 1: 1.8 USM

I can judge the image quality when using the lens only on cropped cameras Canon 400D, Canon 1100D. When working on a crop, the lens shows the complete absence of such a drawback as distortion and vignetting. The lens is sharp enough, even at f / 1.8. When closing the diaphragm, sharpness increases until it abuts against the diffraction threshold. The color rendition is neutral, the lens gives out a contrast image, normally transfers back and side light. The only weaknesses of the lens are chromatic aberration on an open aperture, especially freezing. Friging - violet halos on highly contrasting edges of elements in the frame, for example, near solar reflections in water. In general, the image quality is excellent.

Example photo on a Canon EF 85mm 1: 1.8 USM. Halos.

Competitors

Canon has a very interesting approach, among the classic 85mm portrait cameras for 2012 there are only three - these are Canon EF 85mm f / 1.2 L USM, Canon EF 85mm f / 1.2L II USM and Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM. The first two are very similar and cost about 5x more than the Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM. It turns out that you need to choose either a very expensive portrait lens, or a fairly cheap Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM. Sigma AF 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM is an alternative. Nikon's situation is more interesting, there are as many as four different lenses, which differ in their price and functionality, and there are plenty to choose from.

In any case, the Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM is an amazing lens, it has an excellent aperture, constructive, and price. If the budget is limited, then the Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM is a real panacea. Many photographers are faced with choosing a portrait lens for a crop, often their attention is attracted by the Canon EF 50mm f / 1.4 USM, and Canon EF 50mm f / 1.8 II Are good options that are more crop friendly. But the Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM is much stronger blur the foreground and foreground for portage shooting, with it the distance to the person being portrayed increases, compared with fifty dollars, which reduces the discomfort of communicating with the person being photographed. I recommend choosing the Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM.

Brief comparison with a similar lens from Nikon - Nikon 85mm F / 1.8D AF Nikkor: both lenses Nikon 85mm F / 1.8D AF Nikkor and the Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM belong to the same class and price range. Nikkor has a slightly larger diameter front lens and looks prettier on the camera. Both lenses show very chic performance, but I want to note that I liked the Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM a lot more than the Nikkor when using the crop, and the Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM focuses more than twice as fast than Nikkor. Here is an example pair of handheld shots on these two lenses.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm 1: 1.8G IF SWM and Canon LENS EF 85mm 1: 1.8 ULTRASONIC USM

Sample photos on Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM

All sample photos were taken on camera. Canon 400D и Canon 1100D and lens Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM using protective filter Digi-Optic 58mm UV, without treatment... All photos were shot in RAW, converted to JPEG using Adobe Photoshop Lighroom autolevels, downsized to 3MP and imprinting data from EXIF.

Personal experience

The Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM is a lens you don't want to take off your camera. It is light enough, compact, fast and very fast, and even full frame. I really like the high-aperture 85mm lenses, they can shoot a lot of creative ideas, they wonderfully blur the far and foreground, and on the crop they work like short telephoto lenses.

Lens prices in popular stores can look at this link, or in the price block below:
All Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM prices

All autofocus 85s

Choosing a good 85mm portrait lens is very important for a large number of photographers. I pay a lot of attention to this issue, therefore I have prepared this list of all such autofocus lenses for full frame cameras with F <= 2 and a focal length of about 85 mm.

Nikon (F, Z mounts)

1. Nikon 85mm 1: 1.8 AF Nikkor [December 1987]
2. Nikon 85mm 1: 1.8D AF Nikkor [March 1994, Thailand/Japan]
3. Nikon 85mm 1: 1.4D AF Nikkor [November 1995]
4. Nikon 85mm 1: 1.4GN AF-S Nikkor SWM IF Nano Crystal Coat [August 2010]
5. Nikon 85mm 1: 1.8G AF-S IF SWM Nikkor [January 2012]
6. Nikon Nikkor Z 85mm 1: 1.8 S [July 2019]
7. Nikon Nikkor Z 85mm 1: 1.2 S [January 2023]

Canon (EF, RF mounts)

1. Canon LENS EF 85mm 1:1.2 L USM [September 1989
2. Canon LENS EF 85mm 1: 1.8 USM [July 1992]
3. Canon LENS EF 85mm 1:1.2 L II USM [March 2006]
4. Canon LENS EF 85mm 1:1.4 L IS USM [November 2017]
5. Canon lens RF 85mm F1.2L USM [May 2019]
6. Canon lens RF 85mm F1.2L USM DS (DEFOCUS SMOOTHING) [October 2019]

Yongnuo/YnLens (different mounts)

1. Yongnuo YN85mm F1.8 (YN85mm F1.8) [9/6, Canon EF, February 2017]
2. Yongnuo YN85mm F1.8 (YN85mm F1.8N) [9/6, Nikon F, May 2019]
3. Ynlens YN85mm F1.8S DF DSM (YN85mm F1.8S) [9/8, Sony E, August 2020]
4. Ynlens YN85mm F1.8R DF DSM (YN85mm F1.8R) [9/8, Canon RF, May 2021]
5. Ynlens YN85mm 1:1.8Z DF DSM (YN85mm F1.8Z) [9/8, Nikon Z, March 2022]
6. Yongnuo 85F1.8S DF DSM [9/8, Sony E, August 2022]

Sony / Sony Zeiss ZA / Minolta (E / FE, A mount)

1. Sony FE 1.4/85 GM (SEL85F18GM) [February 2016]
2. Sony FE 1.8/85 (SEL85F18) [February 2017]
3. Sony SAL85F14Z / Carl Zeiss Planar 1,4 / 85 ZA T* [June 2006]
4. Minolta AF 85mm 1:1.4 (22) (AF lens 85) / Minolta Maxxum / Dynax / G / G+D / G+RS / G+D+LE and other versions of the same lens, A mount [1987]

Sigma (different mounts)

1. Sigma EX 85mm 1: 1.4 DG HSM (two sub-versions with different body finishes, for Canon EF, Nikon F, Pentax K, Sony A, February 2010)
2. Sigma 85mm 1: 1.4 DG | A [Art] (for Canon EF, Nikon F, Sigma SA, Sony E, Leica L, September 2016)
3. Sigma 85mm 1: 1.4 DG DN | A [Art] (for Sony E, Leica L, August 2020)

Viltrox (different mounts)

1. Viltrox PFU RBMH 85mm F1.8 STM (Sony E/FE + Fujifilm X, 2018)
2. Viltrox AF 85/1.8 STM ED IF (Nikon Z, Canon RF, December 2020)
3. Viltrox AF 85/1.8 II STM ED IF (Sony E/FE + Fujifilm X, July 2020, light version XNUMX)

Pentax (K mount)

1. SMC Pentax-FA* 1:1.4 85mm IF AUTO FOCUS PENTAX 85 [1992]
2. HD PENTAX-D FA * 85mm 1: 1.4 ED SDM AW [May 2020]

Samyang / Rokinon (different mounts)

1. Samyang AF 85 / 1.4 EF (for Canon EF, scheme 9/7, June 2018)
2. Samyang AF 85/1.4F (for Nikon F, scheme 9/7, April 2019)
3. Samyang AF 85 / 1.4 FE (for Sony E, scheme 11/8, March 2019)
4. Samyang AF 85 / 1.4 RF  (for Canon RF, scheme 11/8, May 2020)
5. Samyang AF 85 / 1.4 FE II (for Sony E, scheme 11/8, July 2022)

Meike (Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony E, Nikon Z, FujiFilm X)

1. MEIKE 85mm AF 1: 1.8 [review] (Canon EF / Canon EF-S, April 2018)
2. MEIKE 85mm AF 1: 1.8 [review] (Nikon F, Aug 2020)
3. MEIKE 85mm 1:1.8 Auto Focus Lens FF STM [review] (for Sony FE/E + Nikon Z, Canon RF, FujiFilm X, June 2022 + March 2023)
4. MEIKE 85mm 1:1.4 Auto Focus Lens FF STM (for Sony FE/E + Nikon Z, September 2023)

Zeiss (various mounts)

1. Zeiss Sonnar 1.8 / 85 T * (Batis 1.8 / 85) [April 2015, built-in stabilizer, Sony E/FE mount, 11/8]
2. Carl Zeiss Planar 1,4/85 ZA T* (Sony SAL85F14Z) ​​[June 2006, Sony A/Minolta A mount, 8/7]
3. Carl Zeiss Planar 1,4 / 85 T * [November 2002, Contax N mount, 10/9]

Tamron (different mounts)

1. Tamron SP 85mm F/1.8 Di VC USD Model F016 (for Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony A [without VC function], March 2016)

Tokina (Sony E / FE mount)

1. Tokina atx-m 85mm F1.8 FE (for Sony E, most likely a complete analog Viltrox PFU RBMH 85mm F1.8 STM, January 2020)

AstrHori (Sony E/FE mount)

1. AstrHori AF 85mm 1:1.8 [December 2022]

Panasonic (L mount)

1. Panasonic LUMIX S 1: 1.8 / 85mm [November 2020]

Separately, you can still highlight non-classic 85s:

1. macro lens Canon Lens RF 85mm F2 MACRO IS STM [2020, RF]
2. longer LEICA APO-SUMMICRON-SL 1: 2/90 ASPH. (2018, Leica l)
3. less aperture Sony 85 / 2.8 SAM (SAL85f28) [2010, A]
4. shorter SMC PENTAX FA 1:1.8 77mm Limited (1997, K)
5. shorter HD Pentax-FA 1: 1.8 77mm Limited (2021, K)
6. shorter Samyang AF 75 / 1.8 FE (2020, E) + Samyang AF 75/1.8X (2023, X)
7. cropped Samsung Lens 1:1.4 85mm ED SSA i-Function [2011, NX]
8. cropped and longer FUJIFILM FUJINON LENS SUPER EBC XF 90mm 1: 2 R LM WR [2015, X]
9. cropped and shorter Viltrox AF 75/1.2 XF STM ED IF [2022, X, E, Z]
10. cropped, less aperture, macro lens Nikon DX AF-S Micro Nikkor 85mm 1: 3.5G ED VR SWM IF Micro 1: 1 [2009, F]
11. many 90/2.8 class macro lenses

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Conclusions

Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM - a great Fast long telephoto portrait lens. The Canon EF 85mm f / 1.8 USM shows excellent image quality, especially the nature of the bokeh. I recommend.

Update: there was a review of an inexpensive alternative to this lens in the face YONGNUO 100 / 2.

Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram